Any person who is indigenous, white, or Caucasian is referred to as a member of the visible minority by the Canadian government. This phrase is frequently used to describe a demographic group in relation to the nation's employment equality legislation.
Immigration and Diversity
Immigrants have entered Canada in greater numbers over the years. The majority of immigrants to Canada came from Asia. Africans and Latinas from South America are some other recent immigrants to Canada (Bird, Saalfeld & Wust, 2010). As a result, there are many different races and cultural groups in the nation. However, the constitution guarantees protection for minority populations from all sorts of discrimination.
LGBT Rights
Lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) also constitute a minority in Canada. The court first legalized same-sex marriages in 2003 in several provinces, after which it was legalized countrywide. The rights of LGBT are protected by the constitution as well under the Civil Marriage Act of 2005 (Keck, 2009). The Civil Marriage Act was proposed by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martins in the Canadian House of Commons (Smith, 2008).
The officer who responded to the domestic violence case comes from the visible minority group. His conduct as a police officer needs to reflect his dedication to the service of the people while his actions need to reflect equality and respect for the rights of other minority groups. The call he responded to was a domestic violence involving gay partners. From the scenario, the conduct of the police officer, in this case, is delicate (Kollman & Waites, 2009). If he makes more than violets the rights of any of the other minority groups, he will be breaking the law that he is tasked to uphold. If he does nothing, the violence will escalate leading to a more serious crime.
Cultural and Religious Diversity
As mentioned earlier, there are immigrants from various parts of the world. This brings a distinction in both cultural and religious aspects. The majority of Canadians are affiliated with Christianity. The second largest percentage is not affiliated with any religion, these groups amount to 23% of the total population. Muslim are approximately 3.2% Hindus represent 1.5% while the rest are either Jews or Buddhists, who represent 1.5% of the population (Bird, 2010).
The police officer who responded to the domestic violence call was a religious person. All religions are against same-sex marriages. Being a religious person, he has a different opinion on the matter he was called to respond to. The domestic violence case involves a gay couple, yet his religious beliefs do not allow same-sex marriages (Friesen, 2010). His decision needs to be logical, but the influence of religion in most matters is very strong.
Handling the Domestic Violence Case
The officer understands that he needs to resolve the matter by taking statements and making a decision on what to do under the circumstances.
Challenges Faced
Since the victim is not talking, the police officer is left with very few options. The only way the police officer could arrest the perpetrator of the violence is when the victim presses charges against his spouse. However, since the victim isn't talking, the police officer needs to find out what happened. According to police reports, there are quite some domestic violence cases in Canada, but quite a small percentage of these cases get to court as the victims fail to press charges (Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003). In this case, if the victim refuses to talk to the police officers, he is left with very few viable options.
Approach to Resolving the Case
The police officer first needs to set aside his religious view on the matter at hand. He should assess the situation as both domestic violence and public disturbance. In this case, the police officer can first separate the two couples and try initiating a conversation with both the victim and the perpetrator. The victim needs to understand the rights he has in the matter. The police officer should, therefore, indulge the victim to try and make him talk. Without a statement from the victim or interest to press charges, there is very little a police officer can do (Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003). The victim obviously doesn't trust the police officer to understand the situation. The police officer should, therefore, ensure that the victim understands the position he holds at the time, which was a police officer in service to the public. Despite the differences in their view on marriage rights, the police officer is expected to perform his duty, which is the maintenance of law and order.
Consequences and the Legal Process
If the victim of the violence finally agrees to speak to the police officers, he will be asked to record a statement and press charges against the spouse. If this is the case, the police officer will arrest the spouse and take him to the police station to record a statement as well. The victim will be taken to the hospital for a medical checkup to strengthen the case against his aggressor (Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003). It is standard procedure for the police officer to sum up any witnesses to the violence. In this case, the police should question the neighbors and get to know if they can attest to the allegation of domestic violence by the victims. This will help strengthen the case against the perpetrator spouse.
References
Bird, K., Saalfeld, T., & Wüst, A. M. (Eds.). (2010). The political representation of immigrants and minorities: Voters, parties and parliaments in liberal democracies. Routledge.
Bird, K. (2010). Patterns of substantive representation among visible minority MPs. The Political Representation of Immigrants and Minorities: Voters, Parties and Parliaments in Liberal Democracies, 207-229.
Buzawa, E. S., & Buzawa, C. G. (2003). Domestic violence: The criminal justice response. Sage.
Friesen, J. (2010). The changing face of Canada: Booming minority populations by 2031. The Globe and Mail.
Keck, T. M. (2009). Beyond backlash: Assessing the impact of judicial decisions on LGBT rights. Law & Society Review, 43(1), 151-186.
Kollman, K., & Waites, M. (2009). The global politics of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights: an introduction. Contemporary Politics, 15(1), 1-17.
Smith, M. (2008). Political institutions and lesbian and gay rights in the United States and Canada. Routledge.
